Suffering – Part 1: Is it inevitable?
I’ve been working on a document for a friend which examines the Scriptural perspective on suffering. I thought I’d share a few sections of it here…
"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
I’ve been working on a document for a friend which examines the Scriptural perspective on suffering. I thought I’d share a few sections of it here…
“Abide With Me” by Henry Lyte is probably one of my all-time favourite hymns:
We sang it at my grandfather’s funeral. It seems appropriate for Maundy Thursday…
1. Abide with me; fast falls the eventide; The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide; When other helpers fail and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me. |
2. Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day; Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away; Change and decay in all around I see— O Thou who changest not, abide with me. |
3. I need Thy presence every passing hour; What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r? Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be? Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me. |
4. I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless; Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness; Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory? I triumph still, if Thou abide with me. |
5. Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes; Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies; Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee; In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me |
“Por el amor de una rosa, el jardinero es servidor de mil espinas.”
(For the love of a rose, the gardener is the servant of a thousand thorns)